i n f i n i t e
by antarcticas
Summary: There are no endings for them, simply different starting points in time. / jason, piper, and playing for another side.
1. Chapter 1

**why won't you wake me up?**

She remembered fragments. They came back in pieces, telling her to put them back together. She was always terrible at solving puzzles.

Whenever they almost came back, he would wipe them away, take them from her. He wouldn't tell her why he didn't give her her memories. She never asked.

When he smiled, she broke. She caved in. He took her away.

Her soul. Her memories. Her former life.

Piper McLean did not know who she once was. He did not tell her. He did not want to tell her. He didn't want her to walk away from him.

He had taken everything; her alluring voice, her childish innocence. He knew he couldn't give them back.

She would hate him.

* * *

 **really short drabbles inspired by ruelle**


	2. Chapter 2

**until we go down**

"There were over one-hundred demigods in Camp Half-Blood to begin with," Jason walks around the table, hands shoved into his pocket, hair combed back impeccably. "I want a report. How many left?"

Malcolm peers at the list in front of him. "On their side? About twenty. Led by Annabeth Chase."

"Of course," he breathes, "of course it'd be her. When will Piper be back from Canada?"

"Three weeks."

"Schedule an appointment for me with her right afterwards. We are marching on the Camp."

"Are you sure you want to charge so quickly—"

He hisses. Malcolm stops talking.


	3. Chapter 3

**breathe without dreams**

"No," she smiled, and he raised an eyebrow, confused and happy.

"You - you don't dream either?"

"I stopped dreaming when I decided that I couldn't be a hero anymore."

"So did I," he laughed. Dawn was coming. They weren't sleeping. "You'd think that without dreams it would be easier to sleep."

"I think that demigod dreams were necessary for us to stay partly human."


	4. Chapter 4

**deep end**

"Are you alright?"

"Am I alright? Do you really want to know?"

"No. I want you to lie to me. Tell me we're alright, Piper. Tell me everything is."

"I don't think I can."

"Why?"

"Because we - we aren't _fucking alright._ Your blood doesn't look red anymore. I killed our best friend yesterday. We have immortal beings willing _to die_ for us. I'm not certain what we are, but it's certainly not okay."

"Look at me, Piper."

"What have I been _doing_ for the past hour? Looking at the blood on your hands?"

" _Piper - "_

" _What,_ Jason? Are you going to tell me we're doing the right thing? I'm fucking past believing you. _Why - what -_ what are we _doing?_ "

"Pipes, we're - we're - "

" _Forget me,_ Jason. What has happened to you?"

"I'm still - I - I love you - "

"Monsters can't love."

 **an: i feel like piper would eventually get really pissed at jason**


	5. Chapter 5

**there's nothing else (this isn't ruelle, it's broods)**

Jason rules the world. He has it trapped in his bloody fists, and he crushes it like glass because he wants what it once was _gone._

When he reopens his clasped hands, his skin is broken and the blood is gold and he has won.

Maybe he has lost himself in the process, but he has won.

Piper constantly tells him to rethink, that he's going about it the wrong way, and maybe she is correct but he doesn't care about _rights and wrongs_ anymore. He wants the world, and that means that he will get it even if he is doing the wrong thing. He does not care, now.

She leaves him.

 **a/n: reminder these are non-linear**


	6. Chapter 6

**sink or swim**

"I hate you," she spits, hands shackled and eyes furious. "I hate you and I will always hate you, Jason Grace."

" _Oh,"_ he laughs lightly, "trust me, I believe you. But you're doing it all wrong, aren't you, daughter of _wisdom?_ You're supposed to beg mercy from the evil guy. Say that you'll change sides. Maybe even offer other things."

She spits at his feet. He draws the wind to remove the viscous liquid from his shoes. It blows right back into her face.

"Where's Piper, then?" she seethes, "I'd like to talk to a sane person, please."

"Piper is dealing with the other prisoners."

"I don't care. I want Piper."

"Don't speak to me like that."

"I will speak to you any damn way I want to, traitor."

Jason clenches his fists. "Gwen. Call Piper before I kill this—"

"Former friend?"

"—prisoner."

"Alright, sir. She will be here soon."

Jason scowls and throws his fists into the wall before walking out, his long cape following him. Gwen sends Annabeth a pitying look. She looks as if she wants to say something but stands back up to attention when Piper enters.

"Oh, Annabeth—"

" _Shut up,_ Piper. Shut up and tell me why you're still here and still smiling and still kissing him when he has clearly lost his mind."

"He has not lost his mind."

"Are you blind? He—"

"I know that it seems like he has, but he hasn't, trust me."

"You're asking me to trust you?"

"Let me have that, Annabeth. Please."

"You are—"

Piper leaves. The next day Annabeth is sentenced to her execution.

" _She asked to pardon you. It was_ _he who demanded death."_


	7. Chapter 7

**keep your eyes open (taylor swift)**

Thalia spits.

"First Luke, then you," she says. "I need to stop loving people."

"Aw, you love me?" he mocks, putting his hand on his heart. "That's so sweet!."

She gives him a glare filled with malice as he changes his expression to one with a slightly crooked smirk and raised eyebrows. "Why didn't you want to see me?" he asks.

"Seeing you crazy was going to make me hate you. I don't want to hate you. I - " her voice cracks, "I wish I didn't hate you."

"You hate me?" and then his mouth drops, a little bit - almost like he's disappointed - but seconds later, the corners lift up again into their deranged pattern. "Great. That will make this harder for you."

Then he takes out a sword. Thalia looks at it, resigned to her fate, her head low and ready to be cut off. She is not expecting it to dangle in front of her.

"Go," he whispers, "and raise an army for me."

And it would be a strangely laughable moment if not for the stormy skies in his eyes and the prison cell.

"Do you trust me enough to do that?"

"No. But your alternative is damnation. So choose."

She reaches up for the sword and he smiles. "You always were a survivor, Thalia Grace."

"That's your name too," she murmurs, "come back."

The sword drops into her hand and she sees her shining gold reflection and her own eyes and how she looks, for now, slightly sane. He watches too. Then he frowns.

"I am where I belong."


	8. Chapter 8

**i am my mother's child**

He's not _evil._ That's taking it much too far — he's passionate, that's all. They call it theory. _The end justifies the means._ And what's wrong with that, after all? You start something, you have to end something, the middle section doesn't matter. The world's going to be better off for him, so he's not doing anything wrong. He's doing everything right. He's making something better.

They're all fighting for themselves, but he has a purpose, a cause. He'll do what they're doing. He'll do it better than the father who left him and the mother who did the same.

 _I'm not crazy, I'm real. You can't face reality._

People who don't care don't deserve to live. It's there, the bare truth — people die. People have to die so that more live. They die today, their influence doesn't poison future generations. He's being pragmatic. He's being real.

 _Real. Real. I can do this, I am living this._

Yeah, the right thing. Millions dead for a personal war isn't fair. The mortals are like subjects; they keep the faith alive, so they must be protected, and he's the one doing that. This time, they'll pray to him. The gods never noticed the gold mines at their feet. They destroyed their power. They were selfish.

 _Humans are embodiments of their creators. But they hold the real strength._

Faith in him means worlds of bones and killing queens but it's better, still better, always better.


End file.
